


Kisses Outside

by LadyCookieCupcake



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Kisses under the mistletoe, Longish one-shot, The Evil Within 1, Written with a female reader in mind, pre-Evil Within 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 06:08:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13711491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCookieCupcake/pseuds/LadyCookieCupcake
Summary: 'You’ve been trying to avoid the bloody thing ever since you arrived.'*You never knew Juli liked you but then again, you also didn't know it would all be down to mistletoe.





	Kisses Outside

 You’ve been trying to avoid the bloody thing ever since you arrived.  
  
   It’s positioned conveniently above the front door, so anybody who steps through it either has to hope they don’t walk through with anyone or kiss the person they  _do_ walk through the door with.  
  
   You were lucky enough to avoid it the first time. The second time, however? Well, that was what you were doing now; trying your very best to  _avoid the damned thing!_  
  
   Sneaking behind the corner, you managed to slip through the living room and into the kitchen without so much as a glance your way. You’d been doing so for quite a while now, and you’d thought you could manage to escape without anyone noticing.  
  
   But of course, you couldn’t. Joseph had seen you, and being the brilliant detective he was, he instantly knew what you were doing and seemed adamant about getting you to do the opposite.  
  
   That was why you were extra paranoid right now. Yes, you would admit you were being  _very_  paranoid, but you couldn’t be too careful when those KCPD detectives were involved. They were like sniffer dogs when they wanted something.  
  
   A loud thump could be heard behind you and you turned, afraid Joseph had finally found you. He hadn’t. In fact, the thump was nothing but two people making out against the wall. You rolled your eyes and sighed a breath of relief.  
  
    _Keep moving_ , you thought, turning back to slip outside, the cool air brushing against your skin,  _Joseph hasn’t caught you yet.  
  
_    You were outside which meant you were safe..er, you were safer than you were inside. He wouldn’t have thought the outside, only inside, at least not until much later.  
  
   The cool air was soothing against your flushed skin. There were just too many people in that smallish house for it  _not_  to get hot, and no amount of open doors and windows changed that. It was nice to be outside.  
  
   You looked up at the sky, dark and almost unforgiving, save for the moon, the only thing in the sky the gave light, like a beacon to those lost and wandering...or those trying to escape determined co-workers.  
  
   Looking down, you chuckled at the thought. You looked around, located a bench, and went over to sit on it. Leaning your head back allowed you to look up at the sky a bit more, which you took in for nothing better to do.  
  
   You stayed like that for a while, to the point where your neck hurt at being bent at an odd angle for so long, the chill of the wind seeping into the exposed skin. You ignored it though. What’s a little pain compared to the beautiful sky above?  
  
   “(Y/N)!” Someone called, the sound of the glass door sliding open further following it. The noise wasn’t anything special but it came as such a shock that your head shot downwards quickly, and a sharp shooting pain shot up your neck.  
  
   You winced. Ah, everything! A ‘little pain’ is everything compared to the sky! You raised a hand to gently rub at your sore neck and winced again at the twinge it gave in response.  _Ow! Who even opened the door?  
  
_    Carefully, you looked up, frowning in discomfort before your eyes widened in shock.  
  
 “K-Kidman?”  
  
   But it can’t be, you were sure the voice had been male. You looked behind her but saw only those grinding against each other and the sink. You grimaced.  _Lovely_ , you thought sarcastically before facing back to the female detective- and froze again.  
  
   She was staring at you, just as wide-eyed as you were. Ah, so she didn’t come out here willingly then. You shook your head, sighing and watched as she sighed as well, walking over to sit beside you.  
  
   “Let me guess. Joseph?” You asked and she silently nodded. You chuckled, rolling your eyes. Of course, it was Joseph. He was  _way_  too determined, that man. Why though? What was he planning on achieving by getting you to kiss underneath a mistletoe? It wasn’t as if  _he_  was going to get the kiss (you expected neither Sebastian nor he would’ve liked it).  
  
   So, why was he so determined to ruin your night? Though it was already ruined by the fact that you had to come in the first place. It was a simple office party, right before Christmas, and sure, it was nice to see everyone but you didn’t get on with everyone. You only really spoke to Sebastian, Joseph and a couple of other workers. You never really spoke to Kidman, though you heard about her often.  
  
   She had only recently been transferred to the precinct, and not many talked to her.  _About_  her, sure, there were plenty of rumours going around to last a lifetime but no one ever seemed to take the time to get to know her. Of course, it didn’t help that Kidman herself was just that type of mysterious, that it was hard to get her to talk, let alone be confident enough to actually  _start_  the conversation.  
  
   You wanted to talk to her though. She seemed like a lovely ( _cute_ , your mind supplied;  _hush_ , you demanded it) woman, a woman who had stories to tell, and you wanted to give her a person to tell them too, to trust enough to tell them.  
  
 It was just harder to actually  _do_  than it was to  _think_  about doing it.  
  
   Like now, for instance. You were sitting there, beside her, swinging your feet a little. You were unsure of what to even talk about. What did she find interesting enough to talk about?  
  
   “Joseph said your name was (Y/N)?” She asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question, and looked over at you. You nodded in reply. Oh, so Joseph’s been talking about you, huh? Why?  
  
   “I asked him, that’s all. He wouldn’t tell me otherwise.” She explained before adding, “Don’t worry.” Oh, yeah, because it’s just  _that_  easy to ‘not worry’ when you find out the woman you find cute (and may have a little crush on) wants to know your name. Yeah,  _so easy_.  
  
   Why did she want to know your name? Why’d she ask Joseph? Why not you? Did she want to become friends? Or something?  
  
   Meanwhile, while you were getting more and more panicky, Juli Kidman was sitting there awkwardly, wanting to say something but not knowing what. It was quite obvious you were panicking, given the way your chest was heaving up and down faster with every couple of breaths.  
  
   What was she to do? She couldn’t just sit there and watch you panic more and more. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. It was a terrible idea, one that  _may_ get her punched if she’s not careful, but it’s an idea.  
  
   Looking over at you, Juli took a deep breath before leaning in, and with a hand cupping your cheek, she turned your head and leaned in further, smashing her lips against yours. Nothing seemed to move in that next moment, nobody breathed, no bugs made any noise, no loud music from the house, even the soft whistle of the wind seemed to have just disappeared.  
  
   It was only you two, and the longer you stayed connected, the more your heart thudded more, though this time it wasn’t in panic. In fact, the kiss distracted you just enough to breathe in a lungful of air, Kidman’s air. You didn’t care though; you were suddenly too enraptured in the kiss too.  
  
   With a sudden urge to grab her hair, you reached your hand up to it, intent on tugging her closer- only for her hand to grasp yours quickly. You paused, pulling away and staring at her wide-eyed. She stared back, her eyes a little dazed but still quite alert. Her gaze was torn between you and your hand, and then she switched between your eyes to your lips.  
  
   After a moment of just staring, Kidman seemed to shake herself out of whatever thoughts she was having and slowly pull away, almost-reluctantly letting go off your wrist. You rubbed it a little, though she didn’t hurt you. She was quite gentle, considering you’d obviously startled her.  
  
   “Sorry. About that, I mean.” Kidman said, and you looked over, eyebrow raised at her.  
  
   “Why are you saying sorry? I’m the one that should be apologising, I...obviously startled you.” You replied back before adding, “I’m sorry for that. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”  
  
   You chuckled nervously at the image of you two kissing. Well, maybe you did but maybe it was best she didn’t know.  
  
   Kidman gave a sound akin to a nervous chuckle of her own (somewhat), as much as she’d allow anyway. The air around you two suddenly became awkward, and you resisted the urge to cough to break the silence.  
  
   Oh great. Did you just ruin any chances of  _anything_ happening between you two now?  _Not even a friendship could possibly work now.  
  
_    “Wow, you two. You really are hopeless, (Y/N).” Joseph’s voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and you gave a little gasp, turning in the direction of it to see Joseph standing right behind the bench you two were sitting at, his arms crossed and in one of his hands dangled a...mistletoe?  
  
   You glared at it before chuckling darkly. Of course. It’s not like Joseph to miss a chance, after all. You looked over at Kidman and wondered for a second if she knew. Was that why she came out? Did she do all of this just to help Joseph out? Did she just use your near-panic attack to her advantage?  
  
   Overcome with embarrassment suddenly, you turned away and glared at the pathway leading to the house, trying to ignore the blush on your cheeks.  
  
   “Oh, don’t get sulky.” Joseph chided, his voice akin to that of a mother playfully reminding her child not to whine, “She knew nothing about this-,” He waved the mistletoe. “- I just used this to my advantage.”  
  
   “Why?” You couldn’t help but ask. Why did he bother? Why did he care? It’s not like kissing under a mistletoe ‘sealed the deal’ or whatever. It was just a stupid thing people did for the fun of it.  
  
   “Because I needed the photo to actually  _mean_ something, and what’s the point of forcing you to kiss someone you don’t like?” Joseph asked, and honestly, were it anyone else, the whole sentence would’ve flown over their heads, you could leave without further humiliation and they’d be none-the-wiser, but this wasn’t just ‘ _anyone else_ ’ sitting beside you, was it? This was Kidman, and she didn’t get transferred over for the fun of it.  
  
   “You like me?” Kidman asked as if startled by the information, and you winced. What do you do? Do you lie and say no? But Joseph’s right there and he’d say otherwise, and besides, Kidman would probably know if you were lying. There really is no point in lying when surrounded by human lie detectors.  
  
   Sighing, you nodded, daren’t looking up at either of them. You didn’t want to see Kidman’s shocked (maybe even disgusted?) look, nor did you want to see Joseph’s smug one. The silence carried on and the air seemed to get stuffier, despite being outside.  
  
   Just as you decided going inside was best and moved to stand up, you heard a murmur to your left. You turned to Kidman, eyebrow raised in confusion.  
  
 “Huh?”  
  
   She mumbled again and as odd this almost-uncharacteristic trait was, it was also incredibly annoying. You huffed.  
  
 “I still can’t hear you.”  
  
   “I like you too!” She called out. Well, no, not really. She didn’t call out in the normal sense, there was no shouting or even a raised voice, but there was  _her_  loud voice, which meant she was embarrassed - and with a confession like that, no wonder.  
  
   “You...do?” Was it true? Or was this all just a part of Joseph’s plan? What  _was_ his plan? He must have one! Why else would he care so much about this mistletoe shenanigan?!  
  
   Kidman nodded silently, looking everywhere but you and you blushed, unsure of what to say. Joseph cleared his throat, placing down the camera by his side.  
  
   “I’m going to go back in. Call if you need me.” And then he was gone, just like that.  
  
   You huffed at Joseph’s retreating back. Of course, he’d leave when you needed him the most (and appear only when you don’t).  
  
   “Um...maybe I should follow him too. I must get going soon anywa-.” Kidman began but you grabbed her arm before she could finish, stopping her in her tracks. She’d gotten up as she was talking, not really giving you a lot of time to stop her before she ran off.  
  
   “Stay. if only for a little bit. I...like having you here. With me. Right now. Yeah.” You rambled on, worry eating you as you did so, afraid she’d ignore you and carry on walking off.  _God, shut up, (Y/N)! You’re making it worse!_ Kidman stared, face blank but you knew what she was doing - calculating, making sure you weren’t lying.  
  
   You smiled calmly and waited. Why would you lie about something like this? This was the only chance you’ll get to be with her, after all. When she seemed to find what she was looking for, she nodded and sat down beside you.  
  
   And that was that. The party carried on, loud thumpy music still carrying out of the open glass doors and windows of the house and people still having a good time, playing games and dancing (and getting drunk, you mustn’t forget that part). But more importantly, you were with Kidman. You may not be partners, you may not even be friends, but after so long of wanting to just be  _something_ to her, you finally were. What that something was, you weren’t sure. With time, though, you were sure you’d figure it out. If she let you.  
  
   You smiled and carefully grasped Kidman’s hand, making sure not to startle her again. She tensed for only a second before relaxing the best she could and placing her hand over yours. Both of you leaned your head back and watched as the sky began to slowly allow new stars to form.


End file.
